Legends of the Chopin Competition

As the 2025 Chopin International Piano Competition launches, so do its centenary celebrations. In fact, this year marks exactly 100 years since Polish pianist Jerzy Żurawlew mooted the idea of a competition to celebrate and reward the greatest interpreters of Chopin’s piano music. The first competition was held in Warsaw two years later in 1927, won by the celebrated Soviet pianist Lev Oborin. While the Second World War prevented it from running, the competition returned in 1949, and since 1955 has been held every five years (save 2020’s edition, which was moved to 2021 due to the Covid pandemic). This year, everything is happily back on track. Over the decades, the Chopin Competition has boasted many a piano legend amongst its medalists. Martha Argerich, Krystian Zimerman, Maurizio Pollini, and Yundi Li have all been first-prize winners, while runners-up include Gabriela Montero, Ingrid Fliter, and Daniil Trifonov. On this playlist, you can hear recordings made by many of these prize-winners since their respective victories, alongside historic live performances from the Chopin Competition itself. Today, the competition is held in October around the anniversary of Chopin’s death, and is regarded as one of the most prestigious of all musical contests. The standard is notoriously high—entrants are required to put together six all-Chopin programs (one of very few competitions focused on a sole composer) and are expected to perform them from memory in front of capacity crowds in the hallowed Concert Hall of the National Philharmonic. The rewards are great—this year, the top six prizes will share a pot of over €200,000, and for the winner, a career both on the stage and in the studio is all but guaranteed.